Windows XP Shutdown Outrage: Users Boo Microsoft Blog

Microsoft blogger recently encouraged customers to "help their family and friends get off Windows XP." Oh, really?

Windows XP Shutdown: 10 Facts To Know

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There's nothing all that remarkable about a Microsoft employee publishing a post to one of the company's corporate blogs. Redmond maintains eight separate blogs for Windows alone, not to mention similar sites for products like Windows Phone and Internet Explorer.

So you're forgiven if you missed this one from Feb. 7: Brandon LeBlanc, Microsoft's chief blogger, reminded readers that the end of support for Windows XP, which still powers 29% of the world's PCs, was then just two months away. (Support for XP ends April 7.) The post, "Help your friends and family get off Windows XP," begins: "Today marks 60 days until the end of support for Windows XP and we need your help spreading the word to ensure people are safe and secure on modern up-to-date PCs."

It seemed a harmless -- if perhaps a tad desperate -- pitch to sophisticated Windows users: Please help us get your technology laggard friends and family off XP and onto a "modern" OS, Windows 8.1.

After a fortnight in the wild, though, harmless is definitely not the right word. Rather, Windows customers have turned the comments section -- 162 posts and counting -- into a business-school case study on the downside of corporate blogging. Many of the comments express displeasure with Windows 8.x, Microsoft's sales and marketing strategies, past product flops, and other gripes.

Naru wrote: "Honestly, this sounds more like a sales pitch for Windows 8.1 than any kind of interest in what is actually best for my friends and family." XMVP, meanwhile, who identified himself as a former Microsoft MVP, said: "I'm having a heck of a time telling all the people I know with XP machines to move to 8.1. I don't even use it, and probably won't."

That's among the gentler blowback.

Snodrog kicked things up a notch: "I was a victim of Windows ME; my husband was a victim of Vista. Both of us are tech-savvy endusers and our computers run XP. We will not upgrade to Win 8.1, and when we can no longer use XP we will move to machines running Linux or Macs. And you can stick that up your arrogant corporate backsides."

As the legendary Ron Burgundy would say: "Boy, that escalated quickly."

So where did things go wrong?

For starters, directly pairing the awareness campaign around XP's support cutoff with the push for Windows 8.1 upgrades was, at this stage, a woeful miscalculation of the marketplace. As Keatah wrote: "If Microsoft could make a compelling and user-friendly product that doesn't alienate current hardware and software AND is reasonably priced, the upgrade sales would roll in all by themselves. All without the need for MS asking us to upgrade. But instead we're stuck with this situation."

Microsoft's message makes no mention of Windows 7 -- nor, of course, the fact that Windows 9 rumors are already rampant. Right or wrong, Windows 8.x's ragged public perception doesn't make for a great XP upgrade spiel. "Hey, dump that old OS that everyone still seems to love and fork over some cash for this 'modern' OS that everyone seems to love to hate! P.S. You're probably going to need buy hardware, too." Not exactly the stuff of a memorable Super Bowl spot.

One of the odder things about the friends-and-family pitch is that it offered no incentive to spur Windows diehards into action. No discounts, no Microsoft Store credit, no nothing. Instead of taking a "scratch our back and we'll scratch yours" approach, Microsoft effectively said: "Scratch our back. It's itchy."

That's particularly puzzling given that the cost of upgrading is most definitely an obstacle for some customers. Several comment authors took issue with

How many realize the Mr Bill Gates will packet a massive amount from this XP Shutdown. When he wrote his first OS he offered it to IBM for a cool $1million,who turned him down in the late 1980's. A year later he offered them an updated version for an outright purchase for a couple of $million, again they turned him down, by then the first desktop Pc had just come onto the market. The follow year he offered his next OS to IBM on a different deal. For each time they used his OS on any PC or on any hardware that requires his OS to be able to use, IBM would pay him the princely sum of just $1. They tore his arm off and signed the lifetime deal. He made about $1500 in the first year, Year 2 just over $1million. After year 2 IBM tried to buy him out. He refused.

This deal is still in place. this is why every piece of hardware / software has in the small print IBM compatible. For each and every item Microsoft still get that $1 each. The rest is history as to the MS furtune.

Now we are being forced to upgrade or risk our PCs being hacked. I run a small business and for the last 3 to 4 weeks I have had one member of staff trying to resolve issues of upgrading just to Windows 7. Some of our software will not work and that will cost over £1k to upgrade. Many of our hardware items, scanners and cameras will not work either and no software is available so the only option is new hardware, which has to be IBM Compatible and that means MS will be profiting from this as well again. I have yet to work out the costs involved. We have just spent £12k moving to our first business unit so if we have to spend God knows what, the effect on the business could be a real disaster.

@ Chris.. You make a great point. However they are not making money on people that don't upgrade and that is the name of the game for MS. You would think that they would be happy they are still using a MS product.

Ok, I realize XP will not be patched anymore once the magic date passes but a plea to keep our family and friends safe by helping them realize they need a new PC with a new OS? Gimmie a break. My mom has an old PC that runs XP and it won't run 7 never mind 8. She is on a fixed income and will not be upgrading. That old PC still works and does what she needs. This lets keep people safe is BS!

It's their new baby and they just have to cover their butts on this one.

I check the sales every day, several times a day, at websites that sell PC parts and software, and Windows 8...8.1 are going way down in sales and in cost of purchasing. Windows 7 is still going strong, and Windows XP is nowhere. I switched to Windows 7 years ago, and love it. It IS the best microsoft every came out with! Windows XP was good in it's day, but most users want to be able to have power, speed, and fun when on their computers, and Windows 7 provides it. Windows 8 and 8.1 is just too much work for most folks. Windows 8 is on my phone and it works great, and easy to use...BUT IT'S a Phone!! NOT a PC! When IS microsoft going to get it thru their thick skulls that Windows 8 on desktops and laptops.....is a bust?

Some guys will tell you how much faster Windows 8 loads and runs, but just install an SSD in your Windows 7 PC, and you will be amazed at how snappy it will be!

It appears that you now cannot scroll to previous post pages anymore. This, in effect, has shut out people's ability to see the past blogs like the one referenced in the article without a direct link. Also, I noticed that an amazing amount of new blogs were suddenly added to the Windows Blog site so that the "Help your Friends and Family get off XP" was shuffled to the third page within days.

What a sneaky way to handle problems. It appears that the modus operandi for Brandon LeBlanc is to post articles. If people start complaining then suddenly new articles start appearing every few hours so that the article with negatvie posts gets immediately shuffled to non-home page status. Now, they appear to have simply shut off access to the old articles. So, we have the same old same old.

Brandon tells us all that he is listening to us, however nothing happens, and everything is quickly hushed up so that too many feathers are not ruffled. Then they just go on about ignoring our feedback and posting articles of "fluff", rather than actually try to communicate with us or solve any of our legitimate complaints.

It is just amazing how far Microsfot has fallen. I remember when they actually listened to their MVP's and MCSE's. Now they appear to care less. They are just giving us all the middle finger.

I was surprised they didn't try and push 7 instead of (or at least as well as) Windows 8, since it's a much more widely accepted operating system (almost 50 per cent of PCs if I remember rightly).

This is an interesting one though, as there's two sides to the argument. Really, these people shouldn't be excepted to have their hand held just because they don't want to update software that's almost 15 years old. I'd be surprised if anyone could name one other piece of software they use that's that old. It's impressive it's still functional in some senses.

That said, Microsoft's arrogance around it smacks of the same attitude we saw with Don Mattrick before he left the Xbox division. When pressed for what users without internet access should do when it came to the Xbox One, he said they should just get an Xbox 360 instead.

I think a lot of developers, especially at the giant mega-corps, have quite sanitised atmosphers and struggle to imagine how people on the other side of the world or in a vastly different economic band than themselves might view upgrades and new hardware - that they no doubt get for free.

Microsoft is starting to look more and more like Eastman Kodak. It has absolutely no understanding of the world it helped create. This campaign sounds a lot like the Obamacare "nag young adults into signing up" campaign. Both are equally annoying to the intended target and doomed to fail.

Me? I've been experimenting with the Ubuntu and Mint versions of Linux. Both are quality products suitable for casual, non hobbyist users, and extrememly ready for prime time.

As someone who is periodically the tech support person to various family members, I had to chortle that this guy would think this was a good approach. Who wants all that work, teaching people about a new Windows OS? I mandated my mom get a Macbook so that I could occasionally send her to the Apple store genius bar instead of taking remote control of her PC and de-gunking it. I am not alone, there.

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